You are here

A man found dead in Lady Bird Lake early Sunday was confirmed Monday evening to be a UT graduate student, according to a statement from UTPD Chief David Carter.

The student, Santiago Gonzalez, was in the McCombs professional accounting program at UT. Carter described the death as devastating to the entire University.

“Out of respect to the family, we are unable to share any other details,” Carter said. “We are committed to helping fellow students mourning this death through university counseling services and other programs.”

The cause and nature of death are undetermined, according to the Austin-American Statesman. According to the press release, UTPD is working closely with the Austin Police Department to find out more details about his death.

The UT Health Science Center at Houston Medical School will be renamed the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School following a $75 million gift from the John P. McGovern Foundation on Monday.

The gift is the largest in the school’s history, according to an email from UTHealth President Giuseppe Colasurdo, and it will be given in 14 separate endowments to the medical school and to the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics.

Colasurdo said the endowment will be used to “bolster medical training, will provide full scholarships to outstanding students and will support scientific discovery and education.” The gift will also enhance programs at the McGovern Center and will create a collaborative research endowment for interdisciplinary learning and discovery, according to the McGovern Medical School website.

A UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter carrying four crew members crashed Monday night in the northern part of Fort Hood during a routine drill. Emergency crews announced after a search that four crew members were found dead.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the death of four First Army Division West Soldiers as a result of a UH-60A helicopter crash that happened Monday evening,” Maj. Gen. Jeffrey N. Colt, commanding general, First Army Division West, said in a statement. “The accident is under investigation and the names of the deceased will be released after the families have been notified. ”

Soon after the incident, Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement about the plane crash.

“[First Lady Cecilia Abbott] and I extend our sincerest condolences to the families of the four soldiers who tragically lost their lives in preparation for defending our country,” Abbott said in the statement. “Whether at home or abroad, our soldiers put their lives on the line every day to secure the freedoms we hold dear in Texas and the United States of America. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and with the military community at Fort Hood during this difficult time.”

Fort Hood, a military base located in Killeen, Texas, is one of the Army’s largest bases, with a population of about 218,000 personal including their spouses and children.

The Malcolm X Lounge’s administration is working with UTPD and the Campus Climate Response Team after it was vandalized in September, according to lounge director David McDonald Jr.

“We have been having constant communication [with CCRT] since then about the lounge, about its importance, sharing what students would like to see in the space and how we could communicate through campus the importance of the space,” McDonald said. “We have also been working closely with UTPD about this incident specifically but also about how UTPD can be more inclusive or can work on best practices for working with minority students on campus with regards to incidents like this.”

According to witness Johnesha Daniels, a mathematics and African-American studies senior, the Malcolm X Lounge was trashed during the early morning of Sept. 23. Daniels said she returned to the space and found the left side of the lounge covered with cookies and craft beads, a hot glue gun still plugged into an outlet and a heated clothes iron in the microwave.

UTPD declined to comment on the incident — an act of criminal mischief according to its report — because it is still an open investigation.

McDonald said he hopes new security measures and awareness of the lounge will prevent future incidents.

“I am very hopeful … that we will be able to prevent future incidents like this to happen again because we will have system in place to be able to identify who did it,” McDonald said.

Since the UT System announced a proposed two percent tuition increase over the next two years, the Tuition Policy Advisory Council at UT-Austin disclosed in a University-wide email the plan it is considering and announced dates of public forums.

According to the email, the council is considering recommending a three percent tuition increase, an average increase of $150 per semester for undergraduate students.

“UT is committed to maintaining the quality of the educational experience our students deserve and works hard to minimize the financial burden students and their families assume,” Judith Langois and Mary Knight, co-chairs of the council, said in the email. “Keeping the University of Texas at Austin affordable and accessible for students of all backgrounds is a top priority.”

A website has been created for students to express their comments and concerns while learning about what this tuition increase will go toward funding. Forums will be held on Dec. 2 in the Main Building, room 212 from 5 to 7 p.m. and the following day on Dec. 3 from 10 a.m. to noon in the same room.

Joey Williams, interim communication director in the office of the Provost, said these days give more people an ability to attend and offer options for those with fixed working schedules.